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The Garden Magazine, June, 1923 
Australia and is also known to Californian gardens. Another fine tree 
of moderate size is Cunonia capensis with opposite, tri-foliolate, glossy 
green leaves and tall erect paniculate spikes of pure white blossoms. 
Reminiscent of the Robinias of this country is Virgilia capensis with 
its pinnate leaves and pendent racemes of rose-pink, pea-like flowers. 
After fires this is the first tree to spring up and in consequence it often 
forms pure colonies but dies out when over-shadowed by other trees. 
An ugly tree yet spectacular when in flower is Erythrina caffra common 
in open country, but the most pleasing of these Coral-trees is the dwarf 
E. Humeana with erect racemes of crimson flowers. On the drier 
plateaus Acacias in variety are characteristic trees either forming thin 
woods or merely dotting the countryside. They are mostly low trees 
with spreading crowns, fragrant yellow flower clusters and all are 
armed with forbidding thorns. Among the most common are Acacia 
giraffae, A. karroo, A. Benthamii, A. detinens, A. caffra and A. spirocar- 
poides on which common names with pointed reference to their thorny 
character have been bestowed by the native blacks and the Dutch. 
In warm, dry lands these may be recommended for fencing instead of 
that modern abomination, barbed wire. Other common trees are 
the Maroola ( Sclerocarya caffra) whose branches are beloved of the 
elephant, and the Wilde Pruimen ( Pappea capensis) both with plum¬ 
like edible fruits. At Bulawayo, near the site of Lo Bengula’s kraal, 
there grows a famous specimen of the Pappea. It is a low tree but 
has a wide-spreading umbrageous crown and beneath its shade the 
mighty old Matabele chief was wont to sit and administer rough jus¬ 
tice. Hundreds of his people walked from this tree to their death on 
Thabas Induna, a hill plainly visible some fifteen miles away to the east. 
The genus Rhus is represented by a host of species in South Africa 
and among other northern genera indigenous there are Ilex, Buxus, 
Salix, and Celtis, but the species are few. The Taxads of the North 
are represented by Podocarpus but our genera of Conifers are unknown 
in South Africa save as planted trees. In rocky places grow several 
species of Widdringtonia, close relatives of the Australian Callitris 
and in habit and general appearance suggestive of our Cupressus. The 
Cycads are the curious Stangeria and the mighty Eucephalartos of > 
which E. caffra, whose pith is made into a sort of bread by the Kaffirs, 
is one of the most common. A Tree Fern ( Cyathea Dregei) is not un¬ 
common in many places and on Table Mountain and elsewhere grow 
Gleichenia polypodioides and Todea africana with its harsh fronds. 
There are other Ferns and the familiar Bracken is common but nowhere 
in the Cape Province are Ferns a feature of the vegetation. 
Shrubs in great variety grow on the edge of the forests and the more 
open country and bright-colored blossoms are the rule. As a large, 
much branched bush the well-known Sparmannia africana is common 
round George and also in many other districts. There, too, grows 
Ochna multiflora, a most pleasing shrub with small lustrous leaves and 
yellow flowers which are followed by jet black fruits seated on a thick¬ 
ened scarlet dais. Another old favorite, Plumbago capensis, with azure- 
blue flowers is wide-spread. 1 collected it on cliffs near Grahamstown 
in the east where it is a conspicuous feature. 
FOR THE GARDEN BOOKSHELF 
The Rose in America by J. Horace McFarland (Macmillan). 
“The Rose is old, very old—probably the oldest cultivated 
flower. When it was in Athens 2,000 years ago first crowned the 
Queen of Flowers, it had long reigned unofficially.” Well, in Mr. 
McFarland this ancient queen has found a competent high priest 
blessed with the rare gift of blowing the breath of life into every¬ 
thing he teaches. Sound sense and a sparkling spontaneity run 
through all the pages of this story, lifting it to the level of a ro¬ 
mance. Even the bugaboo of “Insects and Diseases,” customari¬ 
ly so disheartening and distasteful, evaporates to nothingness 
in the atmosphere of optimism—not the blind optimism of 
ignorance, by the way, but the very sturdy belief that grows up 
out of successful experience. “The whole caboodle of them,” 
says he cheerily, “ can be easily controlled by a little timely care.” 
As editor of “The American Rose Annual” and an active 
member of The American Rose Society, Mr. McFarland has 
superlative opportunity to know the Rose, not only its history 
and performances up-to-date but its promise for the future. 
Expectation and hopes run high for the development by Ameri¬ 
can hybridizers of varieties that will endure average climatic 
rigors so that “dooryard Roses” may eventually become as 
universally familiar as is the Lilac to-day. More than five gen¬ 
erations ago, Mr. McFarland tells us, George Washington created 
a new Rose “truly and definitely American, and of American 
lineage. He named it Mary Washington, permitted it to be 
grown and sold, and thus provided a basis for Rose history in 
America.” 
Attractive and friendly is “The Rose in America,” as well as 
genuinely comprehensive and informative—a book that the 
gardener who cares for Roses cannot afford to miss, for it comes 
near to being for America what Dean Hole’s classic was to 
England’s rosarians. 
The American Rose Annual —The 1923 Year-book of Rose 
Progress—Edited by J. Horace McFarland. 
Two-score authoritative contributions, including not only the 
newest developments in this country but the latest word of Roses 
from all over the world. From E. H. Wilson’s “ Roses in Aus¬ 
tralia” to Grace A. Hill’s “Roses North of the Arctic Circle” is 
indeed a wide swing and one fraught with much fascination. 
More locally and of great immediate interest are such articles 
as Chas. E. F. Gersdorff’s detailed survey of “One Hundred and 
Twenty Roses” and “Choosing Roses Intelligently” by that 
prince of amateurs, Capt. Geo. C. Thomas, Jr. 
The Amateur’s Book of the Garden Series (Doubleday, 
Page & Co.) Edited by Leonard Barron. 
Books on gardening are so often odd-shaped and unwieldy that 
it is a pleasure to come upon this group planned for the con¬ 
venience of the reader—light, easily handled, uniform!/ bound, 
these volumes take up little room and make an attractive ap¬ 
pearance on the bookshelf. That they are full of good meat, 
goes without saying—otherwise they would have no reason for 
continued existence and certainly none for drawing fresh notice 
in their present enlarged and revised form. Of the half-dozen 
or so scheduled, four are now available: “House Plants” 
by Parker T. Barnes, Adolph Kruhm’s “The Vegetable Gar¬ 
den,” “Planning Your Garden” by W. S. Rogers, and Leonard 
Barron’s “Lawn-Making.” 
The only manual on a subject of vital interest to every man 
and woman who owns even a few feet of ground, “ Lawn-Mak¬ 
ing” merits rather special consideration. The lawn is after all 
more than mere grass, it is the background upon which the gar¬ 
dener or the landscape architect builds his effects, it is the first 
fundamental in the garden picture—from this broad viewpoint 
Mr. Barron’s discussion ranges through ways and means, leav¬ 
ing the reader in no uncertainty on minor matters which con¬ 
tribute to ultimate success, the most important being perhaps 
“Seed Mixtures for Special Purposes.” 
Sun-Dials and Roses of Yesterday by Alice Morse Earle 
(Macmillan). 
So good a book deserves to live forever, and the gardening 
public heartily welcomes this re-issuance of a volume that has 
steadily held its place for twenty years. Welcome, too, is its 
slightly elder sister, “Old Time Gardens,” also now making a 
second bow. There is a lure about the origins of things, and a re¬ 
markable assemblage of facts is presented by Mrs. Earle in very 
entertaining manner—folk who care for their forebears as well as 
folk who care for gardens will fully enjoy these twin volumes. 
